The Diocese of Los Angeles and the West of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America was established as the Western Region of the archdiocese on May 5, 1964 by the then Bishop Antony (Bashir). Upon the granting of self-rule to the archdiocese by the Patriarchate of Antioch in 2001, the Western Region was raised to the dignity of a diocese. The diocese encompasses eight western states of the United States and three western provinces of Canada. His Grace Bishop Joseph (Al-Zehlaoui), formerly the auxiliary bishop of the Western Region, was enthroned as bishop of the new diocese at St. Nicholas Cathedral, Los Angeles, California on Sunday, September 12, 2004, by Metropolitan Philip (Saliba), the ruling hierarch of the archdiocese.